Due to that picture, there’s been a lot of hoopla recently about the Magus Sisters possibly appearing in Final Fantasy XI as summonable avatars. Well, you might be surprised to hear that they’ve been in our MMO for over four years now!

Let’s put down the Kukulcan Staves and take at look at how this misunderstanding could have happened.

Images used with permission from the Vana’diel NPC Wiki (JP)

I’m just going to throw it right out there so we can get down the explanation. Shikaree XYZ are the Magus Sisters of Final Fantasy XI. The Magus Sisters are known as 「メーガス三姉妹」, and the Shikarees are referred to as 「スカリー三姉妹」. The 「三姉妹」 (san shi-mai) is just 3 sisters. However, for the Shikaree Sisters, this is more how the players refer to them, so let’s get something more official from within the Final Fantasy series.

Here are the Magus Sisters we all know and love from our formative years:

Cindy with her polearm, Sandy with a scythe, and lil’ Mindy Lou Who with a dagger. Right off the bat, we can see that their choice of weapons matches up.

X uses a knife, Y uses a scythe, and Z uses a polearm.

Now, this is hardly proof, and seems more like a vague homage. However, there is something that never made it in the English version of Final Fantasy IV or Final Fantasy XI. All the original, Japanese names of these characters.

In the Japanese version of Final Fantasy IV, the Magus Sisters were named 「ドグ」(do-gu), 「マグ」(ma-gu), and 「ラグ」(la-gu), wielding the spear, scythe and dagger, respectively. In the 7-4 Promathia Mission, “Calm Before the Storm,” we learn that Shikaree Z’s real name is “Mhag,” which matches the middle sister from the original trio.

Now, you might be thinking, “Hey, Mhag didn’t use a scythe in Final Fantasy XI! And she was fat as hell!” Well, the Magus Sisters have changed appearance in the past. I mean, does this set of sisters look much like the original?

Sure, they all share the same eating disorders, but with a leap from humans to insects, humans to Mithra isn’t too unbelievable.

Also, there’s a little more proof out there for those looking to make a tighter connection. As a further nod to the original sisters, the name is different on the the bonus Shikaree BC quest after you finish Chains of Promathia. Instead of “In the Name of Justice,” the original Japanese was 「メーガスの名は永遠に」, literally, “The Name of Magus till Eternity,” or something like, “The Magus Name Lives On” or “Magus 4evah!” It is theorized this was altered in the localization process because the Magus Sisters have different names in English, and the reference would go unnoticed. Unfortunate players might also notice that in this BC, the Shikaree Sisters can team up on you Delta Attack-style and create level 3 skillchains.

That about wraps up the connections between the Magus Sisters and the Mithran Sin Hunters. Is it enough of a similarity to cross over from homage to actual appearance? I guess that’s for you to decide. Personally, I think it’s enough to say that the Magus Sisters most likely won’t be the new summon coming out. It’s like having Gilgamesh being summonable as an hexa-wielding swordsman, when you already have the pirate adventurer in Norg representing him. Unfortunately, we’ll never know for sure until we get the official story from Square Enix.

As an interesting side note, there are many Japanese players who also believe the “Charming Trio” BC may be an homage to the Magus Sisters. However, this is just an opposite case of the cultural barrier in play, as according to FFXIClopedia, the Leeches are apparently loosely named after characters from Charmed.

UPDATE: A quick look at this thread on 2chan highlights and interesting difference in reactions between the JP and EN communities. Poster #119 brought up the same question we’re seeing on several of our forums: “Why does it list the Magus Sisters as being in FFXI?” Within minutes, at least five other posters had chimed in, explaining that the Mithran Sin Hunters were their representation in Final Fantasy XI. There wasn’t even any debate, and the original poster quickly took the response as fact and moved along. It seems almost a given to them that the Shikaree Sisters were being referred to in the Character Files of Dissidia.

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